I am very glad to be with you all. It is like coming back home a little bit. Although Swiss mentality and American mentality may differ, I do not think that Christians in Switzerland are very different from those in America.
As I came to know quite a number of you, I have really seen that the Lord is, and has, blessed you in many ways. So let me first thank you for this kind and generous invitation to come and share a little of what the Lord has given me throughout the years.
For this time, I think the Lord has put on my heart to share with you about the glorious gospel.
Lord, as we come to Your Word, as we consider the great things You have done in Jesus Christ, we praise and worship You. There is a continuous worship in our hearts, going on and on, because You are worthy to be worshipped.
Even when we are preaching the Word, this too is part of our worship and our thanksgiving to You for all that You have done for us. We thank You for the anointing that is there for speaking and for hearing.
Lord, may You touch our hearts. May You work out Your purpose in every single life represented here in this fellowship. I thank You and worship You again and again. Amen.
Let us read a few Scriptures at the beginning—Scriptures referring to different aspects of the gospel.
First of all, 1 Timothy 1:11. I am reading from the New American Standard Version:
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
This is only part of a complete sentence, but here we find this expression: the glorious gospel.
Mark 13:10:
And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
That is an inclusive command of God, given, I think, to all the saints throughout the ages. The gospel must be preached to all the nations. In Matthew it is called the gospel of the kingdom, but this is one aspect of the whole message of the gospel.
1 Corinthians 4:15:
For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.
Here we find what the gospel is working out. In older versions it says, “I begat you through the gospel.” The gospel is a power that brings forth something.
2 Corinthians 4:4:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
This is a wonderful verse. It says that you need light, and it is the light of the gospel that you need. The gospel is the instrument that gives light concerning the glory of God in the face of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:18:
For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The word “gospel” is not mentioned here as such, but I feel that this is the same as the gospel. Again, we find an effect and a working of the gospel. It has a dividing effect in this world and among all mankind.
Ephesians 6:19-20:
And on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Here we find that the gospel is not only glorious; the gospel is a mystery—the mystery of the gospel.
Maybe to some of you this seems like a strange expression, because the gospel is so simple. Yet Scripture says that the gospel is a mystery. Paul needed the prayers of the saints to be able to speak this mystery with boldness.
Never forget to pray for those who preach the Word. It is not an easy thing, because there is resistance. There is a great power against the gospel in the world. Perhaps you have tried to share the gospel on the streets or in your neighborhood, and you have sensed the resistance to the gospel.
You need prayer. You need divine power to be able to speak forth the gospel with boldness. This is not only true for those who preach as ministers of the Word, but for every Christian. You need boldness to preach the gospel to anybody.
Revelation 14:6:
And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
Here we find that the gospel is an eternal gospel. Some teachers say that this must be a different gospel from the gospel we read in Paul’s letters, but I do not believe that. Galatians tells us that there is no other gospel. There is only one gospel.
The gospel has something about it that is eternal, reaching from eternity past into eternity future. The gospel is something very lasting and very great.
Finally, Galatians 1:6-8:
I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from Him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.
That is a very severe word from Paul, but he knew why he wrote it. If you reject the gospel, there is no hope. There is no message for man, no salvation—nothing but perdition and the decay of everything that God has created.
The gospel is the essential thing that we need.
Now let us go back to the beginning. What does “gospel” mean?
The word “gospel” does not exist in German. We have taken the Greek word, euangelion. In modern English translations, the gospel is described as “good news,” or, as Brother Darby translated the term, “glad tidings”—news that comes to you and brings good news.
But somehow this term can simplify the matter too much. If you look into the Greek idiom, you find that the background of this term is the battlefield.
In ancient times, an entire city’s men might go out to battle, while their families remained at home waiting for a message: Had they been defeated, or had they won the victory?
At the end of the battle, the general would call for a soldier and send him back with a message of how things stood on the battlefield. This could be a matter of life or death for that soldier. Tyrants in ancient Greek areas would kill the messenger if the message was bad; if the message was good, he would be honored.
So I hope you will not kill me afterwards, because I have good news for you—good news from the battlefield.
The gospel, as a whole, is a matter of life or death to all who are exposed to it and have the opportunity to hear it.
There is another element in the term euangelion: the impression of a sudden turn of events. It looked as though the battle was lost, but suddenly the whole situation changed and resulted in a tremendous victory.
Is that not true when we come to the gospel of Jesus Christ? There is the sound of a great surprise. It is really surprising that God sent His Son into this world. He was not bound to do so. He could have created a completely new universe. He was not obliged to continue with a fallen race and with the whole mess that we presented to Him.
But it was His love, and it was a surprising thing. Whenever you bring the gospel to somebody, do not forget that it is a real surprise: there is a sudden turn. Satan is defeated, and his defeat is complete and eternal. There will be no change.
I think all Christians, whatever kind of Christians they may be, would agree that the gospel is the constituting element of Christianity. Without the gospel, we would not have Christianity at all.
Every child of God should be able to share this glorious gospel with anybody who is ready to hear it. But I do not know whether you are able to share the gospel—whether you really know what the gospel is.
I have met people in Switzerland who have many problems when it comes to sharing the gospel with a neighbor. Where should they begin? What is the essential thing of the gospel?
Then there are others who say, “Well, I am beyond the gospel. The gospel is the beginning, and now we need different things.” In one way they are right, but in another way they are not right, because you can never get beyond the gospel. Never.
If you want to step beyond the gospel, you are outside the counsel of God.
There are people, when you try to teach them deeper truth, who say, “That is too high, too difficult for me. I like the simple gospel.”
Now, the gospel is simple—very simple. That is why everybody should be able to share it.
What are some important facts of the gospel?
This is the gospel. You do not need to study philosophy in order to understand the gospel. You do not need a great deal of doctrine in order to enter into its reality.
The gospel is not a doctrine. Never make a doctrine out of the gospel. The gospel is a message about facts—divine facts.
You can deny teaching, but you cannot deny facts. The gospel is composed of facts, and you simply share these facts with people. Every child is able to grasp that.
The gospel must never become a complicated matter. If you feel that the gospel is a difficult thing, you will never be able to share it. It is listening to facts, accepting these facts, and then becoming part of the family of God.
The gospel must remain simple. We need a certain simplicity in Jesus Christ. Yet though it is simple in its practical application, the Bible speaks of the mystery of the gospel.
A mystery is something hidden, something not easily entered into. God must do a work in your heart so that you can enter into a mystery. God has to share it with you. You cannot enter into a mystery merely by your own will.
The gospel is very simple, and yet it is profound. There is a vastness and a depth about the gospel that no human being can fathom or explore.
The gospel covers the whole range of truth. You can never get beyond the gospel. Open the Bible from Genesis to Revelation: whatever you read is part of the gospel that God has given to this world.
It includes everything the Bible teaches about God and man. It comprises all the ways, feelings, and purposes of God with man, with creation, and with all the ages.
Never despise the simple gospel. Never belittle the facts that God has set forth for our salvation. They open a view, a way, and a perspective that is breathtaking.
The gospel is a continuous unfolding of the wisdom, nature, and glory of God in Christ Jesus. It is eternal in its character and in its effectiveness.
All the effects of the gospel that is preached now will continue into all eternity. When the new things have come, you will see the unfolding of these effects, and this will be part of our worship of God from eternity to eternity.
To sum up all things: the gospel contains all the fullness of God. It is very simple, and yet very profound. We need to be taught before the Lord to appreciate the gospel in a new way.
Why has God given us such a great and profound gospel, and yet such a simple gospel?
Through the gospel, sinners are saved. Hallelujah. I was glad to be at the baptism yesterday and to hear that brother’s testimony. It is great.
Do you know that the angels are rejoicing whenever a sinner is saved? Not merely because there is one less going to hell, but because it adds glory to God.
Through the gospel, the church comes into being. Without the gospel, there is no church.
There is much talk about church life all over the world. People try to bring churches into being through knowledge of church structure, collective leadership, and all these things that may be biblical and true. But they do not get the church; they get their own church structure. It becomes a man-made thing.
It is the gospel preached in the power of God and the Holy Spirit that brings forth the church.
Through the gospel, the whole universe will be renewed and reconstituted according to the full thought of God. The gospel has to do with the course of this universe, its recovery, and its reconstitution according to the original thought and purpose of God.
Through the gospel, God will be glorified and expressed by a redeemed cosmic order, in which God will be all and in all. That is the uttermost vision God gives us in the Bible.
If you do not understand this, worship. Worship God. When it pleases Him, He will reveal one thing after another as there is need for it.
Let us consider several expressions in the Bible that are used in place of the term “gospel.” These help us enter more deeply into what the gospel really is.
One expression is the way. In Acts 9:2, at the conversion of Paul, we find this expression:
And asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Other references include Acts 18:25-26; Acts 19:9, 23; Acts 22:4; and Acts 24:14, 22.
In John 14:6, Christ says:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
And in John 10, He says, “I am the door.” He is the door to that way, which is also Christ.
What does it mean that the gospel is the way? When you come to know the gospel, that is only the beginning—a definite and necessary beginning. You accept the facts God has done for you; you are converted; you are born again.
But to be born again means to start. It means to have a beginning. If you only have a beginning and there is no continuation, I really doubt the beginning itself.
There is a way to go if you have accepted the gospel. The way consists of three things:
You have only responded properly to the gospel if you have started, if you are on the way, and if you reach the goal. All three must be together.
Through regeneration, through being born again as a child of God, you are initiated into a spiritual course—an adventure of breathtaking dimensions.
I was born again as a child, and many years have passed. The more I come to know the Lord and go on along this way, the more astounded I become. I have read the Bible many times, but the more I come to know the Lord, the more the Bible becomes a new and fresh book to me.
Every time I read through it, it speaks in a new way. Terms become fresh revelation. That is part of the way you go with the Lord.
The gospel is that way. It calls you to that way, leads you along the way, shows you the goal, and keeps you on track. So never lose sight of the gospel.
Once you listen to and obey the so-called simple gospel, you come under a divine power that breaks through bondage and sin and illuminates the darkness of your life and of this world.
Have you experienced part of that divine power? Do you know that the gospel has the power to change your life, to break into your life, perhaps to put you down a little, but then to bring you to a place where you meet God and His glory?
The gospel brings you under divine power. This power takes hold of your life and will not let you go if you remain faithful. Even when it seems that God and man have forsaken you, do not forget: if you have obeyed the gospel, the power of God is on your side. It is working for you and breaking through to make a way free for the goal.
If you have listened to the gospel in a real way, you experience a marvelous grace that is all-sufficient to change your character and transform you into the image of the Firstborn from among the dead.
The grace that God gives you is greater than the sin in your life. It is all-sufficient. It is able to transform a piece of clay into a precious stone.
Man tried to build a city with clay and bricks, and he ended with the tower of Babylon—a complete mess. You cannot build the city of God with clay. You need to be transformed.
It is not you yourself who can change your character, your thinking, or your mentality. It is grace that transforms you. We need to hand ourselves over completely to that grace, to be rooted in grace.
Many Christians receive grace in order to be saved, but when they want to go on as Christians, they abandon grace. Some take the law; some take teaching; some take whatever else it may be. But they do not go very far with that.
Grace is the very thing that the gospel opens to you. You are overpowered with grace, and grace changes you in a wonderful way. Trust and obey—these are the effective instruments that transform you.
If you have obeyed the gospel, you encounter an authority able to deal with all the powers and strategic forces of the enemy. It is able to bring every situation in your life, every circumstance, and every situation in the church under the feet of Christ.
The gospel is an authoritative thing. There is authority in it—the spiritual authority of God Himself. God is behind the gospel, God is in the gospel, and God is the authority of the gospel.
All the forces and resistance of the enemy can be brought under Christ’s feet.
There are positions, truths, and victories to discover and take by faith, of which the natural man knows nothing. All these things are already ours in Christ. The gospel presents them as already ours. You do not need to work for them; you enter into them.
All victories are already won. Have you really understood the gospel? You simply enter into them. If you follow the way, you enter one victory after another.
The gospel also opens to you the whole realm of the supernatural. I am not a charismatic; I am not a Pentecostal; I am a Christian. But if you understand the gospel, you have come into the supernatural. Your whole life becomes a miracle.
There is warfare to be fought, temptations to be overcome, and testings to be passed through. That too is part of the way of the gospel, for Christ’s sake, so that He may be glorified.
The gospel does not trick you. It does not present all the positive things and leave out all the difficult things. But even the cross, brothers and sisters, is not a negative thing. The cross is a very positive power. If you are really crucified, you are the freest person in the world.
Finally, let me close this series of aspects of the gospel as the way with the love of God. That is the most beautiful thing.
There is a love to be expressed and experienced that does not recognize differences among people; that is never offended; that seeks the benefit of others rather than its own; a love that never gives up and never fails.
That is the way of the gospel: to experience all the dimensions of the love of God.
What is the goal of that way? What are you expecting when you walk the way of the gospel?
There is one word left: glory.
All God’s ways, all God’s dealings with us, all overcoming, all enduring, and all suffering end in glory.
Glory means God being expressed in a full way, and God coming to His rest in the things He has created, redeemed, and glorified.
You as a believer, and the church as a whole, have a way to go. The gospel is the beginning, the continuation, and the reaching of the goal—which is the glory of God.
Please never say, “When I am saved, I have it all. I do not need anything more.” That is not true. You have just taken one step on the way.
I want to encourage you: hurry on into the unknown, into Christ. Hurry on into the mystery of the gospel, into life with and in God. That is what the gospel is all about.
Let us come rapidly to the next term: the faith.
Since the Reformation, we have known that faith is the way in which we are saved. But Jude 3 says:
Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.
Here the term “faith” means the gospel—the whole gospel. It is a term used in place of “gospel.”
Jude 20 says:
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith.
Again, this is the gospel—the most holy faith.
This reminds us that everything connected with the gospel is by faith. There is no other way to experience the fullness of the gospel than by faith. It is a simple thing, yet to have faith and remain faithful in the real sense is not easy.
Faith is more than personal conviction. Hebrews 11:1 gives us a definition. Faith is a definite standing in the things revealed to us in the gospel: a definite entering into and claiming of the positions, promises, and inheritance that are ours in Christ Jesus, and holding to them in spite of all opposite appearances.
Faith means standing in these things, keeping to them, not wavering, not drawing back, and not giving up. That is faith, and that is the gospel.
The gospel brings you all the positions, all the promises, and all the inheritance that are ours in Christ.
Another term in the Bible is truth. In 2 Peter 1:12, and again in 1 John 2:21 and 2 John 4, the truth is not merely teaching or an idea. Truth is something you walk in.
That is very different from the world’s understanding of truth. In the world, truth is something you grasp with your mind; you agree or disagree. But the truth represented by the gospel is truth that you walk in and live in.
The Apostle John was glad to find brothers and sisters in the church walking in the truth—walking in the gospel, walking on this way we have discussed.
Truth in the Bible is a spiritual reality. There are doctrinal truths, but that is not the whole truth the Bible speaks about. To know truth means to be in the truth and to walk in the truth.
Since Christ is the truth, walking in the truth means walking in Christ and being in Christ. It means intimate fellowship with the risen Lord, in purity, simplicity, honesty, unfeigned love, and fellowship with the church.
This is the reality of the gospel.
Perhaps the last expression used instead of the term “gospel” is testimony.
John 3:31-33 says:
He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh: He that cometh from heaven is above all. What He hath seen and heard, of that He beareth witness; and no man receiveth His witness. He that hath received His witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.
The word “witness” is the word martyria in Greek—the word for testimony. John uses testimony or witness here in connection with the gospel.
Christ came into this world to share with us what He had seen and heard. There are those who have received what He has seen and heard. That is important.
The gospel reveals the nature, purpose, and ways of God to us. It is not merely the testimony human beings give about the things of God. It is the testimony that God Himself bears concerning Himself.
In the gospel, God testifies to Himself. Christ is the image and expression of God, and in Christ we come to know God.
That is why the church also is called the testimony—the testimony of Jesus. This term shows us the range of the gospel and how its effects and fruits are expressed in the church, in the fellowship that is a testimony to God.
Everything testifies to the reality of God in the church. That is what the church is for: to testify to the reality, love, holiness, grace, mercy, and glory of God.
May God bless us. We will continue with this matter of the gospel. There is much to say about it, and I hope we will have more time to see what the gospel means to us.
Lord, we bring back to You these simple things we have touched, and yet these profound things that are included in the gospel.
Lord, forgive us if we have belittled the gospel; if we have spoken of a simple gospel; if we have felt that the gospel is something we have left behind in order to reach out for further truth. There is no further truth beside the gospel.
The gospel is the inclusive message brought down to this earth for mankind. Let us be faithful in going along the way. Let us also be faithful, Lord, in preaching and sharing the gospel with all those who are still in the world, still in the grip of the enemy, and still being lost.
Oh Lord, give us souls. Help us to build the church with the gospel and not with any other truth.
Give us new ministries that are able, Lord, to preach the gospel—anointed rather than systematic ministries—able to bring people into the kingdom, saved by grace, put on the way, and led into the depth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In the gospel, Father, You have revealed Your very heart to us.
Give us the attitude of worship and faith. Let us remain faithful to what we have seen and heard through the gospel. Help us, Lord, to remain under the power of the gospel all the way through, whether we are young or old.
Let us appreciate, Lord, the grace given through the gospel to every one of us. Bless Your Word, make it fruitful to us, and help us not to forget what You have spoken to us in these days and in this hour. Amen.